Your views/opinions on inbreeding

This is a discussion on Your views/opinions on inbreeding within the Livebearers forums, part of the Freshwater and Tropical Fish category; -->
Well that's the question I just want to know other peoples views because personally I dnt like it and wouldn't allow it in my ...

Well that's the question I just want to know other peoples views because personally I dnt like it and wouldn't allow it in my tank... I would buy different fish to prevent it :):):) ... Well reply with your views :)Posted via Mobile Device

Do you mean interbreeding with other species of fish or breeding different strains of fish?

Personally I think it's interesting to see different species of fish breeding to come up with totally different fish. Like dogs breeding with other dogs to make mixed breeds of dogs seems interesting. :3

i mean like a male guppy breeding with his daughter.....because thats what i thinkis rong :(....but i agree i like to breed to different strains for example a blue male guppy and a yellow female and seeing what the fry look like :):):)

Genetics are a funny thing and I wish I knew more about it but breeding in the direct family group (mother, father, brother, sister) is pretty bad due to the lack of variety in the genetic material, the offspring will typically be disformed one way or another whether that is muscle or bone warpage, internal organ failure or a numerious other things. Then you might also have 1 or 2 offspring that seem perfectly healthy but might still have some side effects that might not be so noticeable.

Avoid it if you can but remember fish don't have moral standards when it comes to breeding.

i agree that the fry could be deformed ....you may get 1 that looks correct but then if u breed off that one those fry could be deformed :(:(:(....but yh i wanted to see what otherrs thought :)...cheers any more replys would be good :)

From what I understand, that kind of inbreeding is how people came up with the fancy strains to begin with. By way of deformities, I have heard breeders claim that mammals are more susceptable to the kind of deformities from a lack of genetic diversity than non-mammals (and I have no idea if there is any truth to this).

By way of undesired deformities, breeders would cull animals that had such deformities, and (if the breeder is responsible) make sure not to breed from animals with health problems/deformities that they chose not to cull for some reason.

Those who professionally breed "lines" of animals, i.e. "moscow purple guppies," "crystal red shrimp" or "electric blue shrimp" etc. only do so by inbreeding, and would actually discourage buying animals of these strains and mixing them with animals outside of the strains. The argument goes: "It took generations and time and effort to breed the "snowball" shrimp, and by putting it in with "red cherry shrimp" and letting it breed, you're creating mutts and allowing them into the pet trade, thereby weakening the trait. (Every few generations, they might look for outside stock with the same color mutations, i.e. someone else's purple moscow guppies, just to make sure there is genetic diversity, but overall, those pretty color variations each start off as inbreeding.)

Personally, I don't usually care for "purebreds" of any species, but I've read a little too much about it in passing.

In my view,, as well as others, inbreeding as well as cross breeding,, is primary reason fish strains are becoming weaker. Inbreeding produces same weak genetic traits that parents may or may not posess and these traits continue to be passed on to generations of young.
Always best in my view to select the best of fry and remove them to breed with fish that posess the desired traits whether it be color,finnage,etc. and not allow fry to breed with fry from same generation.
Crossbreeding with cichlids for example , results in fishes with unknown genetics, unknown health issues, and unpredictable behaivor along with possible shortened life span.
These fish ,like livebearer's are aslo capable of passing on weak traits as well as genetic developmental issues and is why in my view,, more and more fish do poorly in the long run compared to fishes of even ten years ago.
Breed strains of fish that are true,and don't inbreed. This way ,others will be able to purchase healthier fishes.

I have heard that the strongest and prettiest fish come between 4 and 5 generations of inbreeding. I have a ton of guppies and what I usually do is let them breed for the 5 generations and then buy new fish to breed with them again. A few of the fry come out deformed but I think that would happen anyways. My fish are all healthy and reproduce well, I have had the oldest ones in this tank for about 2 years.
So my opinion is, sort of gross yes, but the fish are perfectly fine. hope that helps!